paperclipai/paperclip · error · Error

ctx.db.query only allows SELECT statements

Error message

ctx.db.query only allows SELECT statements

What it means

Read-only guard: the single runtime statement is neither SELECT nor a WITH (CTE) query. ctx.db.query is the plugin's read API; writes must go through ctx.db.execute. The mutating statement passed to query is at fault.

Source

Thrown at server/src/services/plugin-database.ts:259

    }
    throw new Error(`Plugin SQL references schema "${ref.schema}" outside namespace "${namespace}"`);
  }
}

export function validatePluginRuntimeQuery(
  query: string,
  namespace: string,
  coreReadTables: readonly PluginDatabaseCoreReadTable[] = [],
): void {
  const statements = splitSqlStatements(query);
  if (statements.length !== 1) {
    throw new Error("Plugin runtime SQL must contain exactly one statement");
  }
  const statement = statements[0]!;
  assertNoBannedSql(statement);
  const normalized = normaliseSql(statement);
  if (!normalized.startsWith("select ") && !normalized.startsWith("with ")) {
    throw new Error("ctx.db.query only allows SELECT statements");
  }
  if (/\b(insert|update|delete|alter|create|drop|truncate)\b/.test(normalized)) {
    throw new Error("ctx.db.query cannot contain mutation or DDL keywords");
  }

  const allowedCoreReadTables = new Set(coreReadTables);
  for (const ref of extractQualifiedRefs(statement)) {
    if (ref.schema === namespace) continue;
    if (ref.schema === "public") {
      assertAllowedPublicRead(ref, allowedCoreReadTables);
      continue;
    }
    throw new Error(`ctx.db.query cannot read schema "${ref.schema}"`);
  }
}

export function validatePluginRuntimeExecute(query: string, namespace: string): void {
  const statements = splitSqlStatements(query);

View on GitHub (pinned to 120ae5428f)

Solutions

1. Use ctx.db.execute for writes; ctx.db.query only allows SELECT statements.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at server/src/services/plugin-database.ts:259 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@120ae5428f (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a773c4a1398cb982. Report an issue: GitHub.